larry king live

Larry King has been in radio and television for more than 50 years, 25 of them on CNN hosting 'Larry King Live.' To many, he is an icon. To 'Access Hollywood Live' (weekdays, syndicated on NBC), he's the guy you cut away to during a clip of 'The Bachelorette' to see what his reaction might be. That was where King's career found itself Tuesday on 'Access,' a situation which he playfully poked fun at.

"I got up for this?" joked King. "What is this? My career has come to this. I'm a cutaway."

Betty White has had a prolific career spanning nearly six decades, but even for her, 2010 was a busy year. The 88-year-old actress and comedienne enjoyed a renaissance that seemed to officially cement her role as America's sassy grandma. Betty hosted 'Saturday Night Live,' guest-starred on 'Community,' got her own show ('Hot in Cleveland') and made a bevy of appearances on late-night and daytime talk shows. We've chosen these highlights from arguably her best year ever. Check out our favorite Betty White clips and vote for your favorite moment.

Lots of comedians have used 'The Tonight Show' as a launching-pad to stardom -- including David Letterman and, obviously, Jay Leno. And on the latest episode (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on NBC), we met a potential new comedy star, by the name of ... Mr. Larry King?

Yes, it's true. Now that he's retired from 'Larry King Live,' the longtime CNN host has expressed an interest in starting a career as a stand-up comic. We swear we are not making this up. So the 77-year-old decided to test his comedy chops on the biggest stage of all. And how did his 'Tonight Show' stand-up debut go?

It was like looking into a mirror -- a mirror of journalistic awesomeness. On the final episode of 'Larry King Live' (weeknights, 9PM ET on CNN), Larry welcomed a parade of special guests, including former President Bill Clinton, Tony Bennett, Regis Philbin, and Arnold Schwarzenegger -- all of whom paid their respects to the host, as he ended his CNN talk show after 25 years on the air.

But perhaps the most "special" guest was ... Mr. Larry King himself (played by comedian Fred Armisen). Fake "Larry" interviewed real Larry, and asked the host some probing but severely odd questions, including, "Now, Larry, what's been my favorite interview?" and "What's the most interesting thing about me?"

Real Larry also complimented fake "Larry" on his outfit -- which, of course, included his trademark glasses and some brightly colored suspenders.

Are you feeling too young? Has the constant exuberance of youth made you wish you could stop and take stock of the fragility of human mortality? Take a look at this video featuring a young(ish) Larry King hosting his first 'Larry King Live' and the shock alone will give you hip pains.

Tonight marks the end of an era as King steps down to hand the reins of his show over to Piers Morgan, but CNN celebrated this momentous end by compiling some of the most memorable moments from King's interviews.

The video below posted by the Hollywood Reporter features a clip from King's very first show way back in 1985, along with excerpts from his chats with famous faces like Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, George Burns, Bill Cosby, H. Ross Perot, Elizabeth Taylor and (my favorite) Snoop Dogg and his "Snoopmobile." It also contains his legendary sit-down with the late Marlon Brando, which contains the most famous man-on-man kiss in television history (no, that's not a figure of speech).

The night before Larry King wraps up 25 years of 'Larry King Live' (weeknights, 9PM ET on CNN), he chatted with Barbra Streisand in her Malibu home. King asked her about suffering from stage fright. She replied, "There's always that feeling of, you know, yeah, 'Will I make those high notes? Will the audience be really receptive?'"

Her 1967 performance in New York's Central Park was a pivotal moment in the star's singing career. In front of 135,000 people, "I forgot the words to three of my songs. And that was it for me. I never sang professionally, meaning where I charged for the tickets, ... for 27 years."

Thursday, Dec. 16, marks the final episode of CNN's 'Larry King Live.' It's been easy to say funny things about King over the show's 25-year-run -- he's out of touch, he should have left years ago, he's been married a lot, etc. -- but the list of guests he's hosted is truly amazing.

King has interviewed celebrities, sure, but because 'Larry King Live' is also a news show, he has hosted more newsmakers and politicians than anyone else you can think of (including Oprah).

We took a look back at the long, stories history of 'Larry King Live' and chose 11 greatest moments, plus a bonus selection that featured a memorable appearance by a certain late night talk show host while filling in for King.

Singer Wynonna Judd has had a tough year. But she's a survivor. And she's never been shy about discussing her personal difficulties on the air -- including her arrest for drunk driving, her struggles with her weight, her divorce, and the arrest of her ex-husband ... Wynonna has revealed a lot about herself -- always with the goal of sharing her mistakes in order to help others.

Tonight, on 'Larry King Live' (weeknights, 9PM ET on CNN), Wynonna did it again. Accompanied by her mom, Naomi Judd, Wynonna said that she had nearly died twice this year -- once during a collision with another car. " ... What do you mean, you almost died?" King asked.

Someday, in the distant feature, TV viewers may still be talking about the Conan O'Brien vs. Jay Leno battle. Ages and ages hence, we might still be discussing the feud with a sigh -- talking about how two roads diverged, and about how two men feuded over the same talk show.

... But on 'Larry King Live' (weeknights, 9PM ET on CNN), Conan tried to emphasize that he was already over the whole 'Tonight Show' thing. When Larry King asked O'Brien if he had talked to Jay Leno recently, Conan made this reply: "No. ... There's nothing, really, for either of us to talk about."

So Conan was "over it" -- but was he over it in a "I don't want to think about it anymore" kind of way? Or has he made his peace with the whole affair?

Piers Morgan, who will be taking over Larry King's hour on CNN in January, appeared on 'The Situation Room' (weekday, 6 PM ET on CNN) and talked to Wolf Blitzer about replacing King and why he wants his new show to be "dangerous."

"Following Larry is bit like following Frank Sinatra," Morgan said. "But I can do things my way, and by dangerous I kind of mean I like interviews to be theatrical. I like it to be a theater, where two protagonists come in and we have fun and it's probing and challenging, a little bit edgy perhaps, and occasional dangerous, where no one is quite sure what's going to happen next."

Morgan added that Larry King's long-running interview show was also occasionally dangerous:

"Some of Larry's most memorable moments encompassed extreme danger, for instance when Marlon Brando kissed him live on air."

Of course, what really made 'Larry King Live' dangerous -- particularly in its later years -- was the impression the audience got that the host could quite possibly fall asleep at any moment. Which is a dramatic tension that Morgan, 45, will struggle to recreate.

Now that Larry King is retiring as a talk show host, he's mulling over his prospects. He's even considering a new job -- as a stand-up comic. Seriously. "I'm funny," he said in a recent interview. "I'm going to do stand up."

But sometimes, if you're going to prepare for the future, you need to look back into the past. On 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' (weeknights, 12AM ET on ABC), King told a story which took place more than five decades ago -- when he was a 23-year-old.

At the time, Larry was a radio D.J. who had just moved to Miami. King had never been to glamorous Palm Beach, so he drove there one Sunday morning -- but then got distracted by the scenery. He took his attention off the road, and promptly rammed into a convertible driven by ... Senator John F. Kennedy.

In an exclusive interview on 'Larry King Live' (weeknights, 9PM ET on CNN) Oskana Grigorieva, who is the mother of Mel Gibson's daughter, explained why she taped a hateful and angry telephone conversation Gibson had with her, in which he alludes to hitting her in a previous incident.

"I started taping around 11 o'clock, because I thought I'm actually not going to live through the night," she told King.

"He's going to come over and kill you," King surmised, and Grigorieva confirmed

"I wanted my mother to be able prove that if I'm dead, this is who did it," she explained.

Grigorieva also stated she did not release the tapes to the public. She added that the released tapes are edited, but she has the unedited version, and they are "pretty frightening and pretty unforgivable."

Steven Slater, the former JetBlue flight attendant who had an altercation with a passenger, then exited the plane via the emergency slide, said on 'Today' (weekdays, 7AM ET on NBC) that he would probably behave differently if given the opportunity to relive that moment from August.

Larry King is doing his part for Jon Stewart's 'Rally to Restore Sanity.' While Oprah and Arianna Huffington are providing people with transportation to Stewart and Stephen Colbert's Halloween-weekend event, on 'Larry King Live' (weekdays, 9 PM ET on CNN) King presented Stewart with something that could be of benefit to the folks once they get there:

A Porta Potty.

"Oh my god," Stewart yulped, when the curtain raised and his unusual gift was revealed.

"Please tell me that is not the capsule that they keep you in," Stewart quipped to King.